Conveyer housing



Patented Apr. 21, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS A. KEEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO .HANNAH M. SMITH, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS I CONVEYER HOUSING Application filed August 22, 1929. Serial No. 387,704.

has been a longitudinal opening, and through this opening the arm just referred to projected. At the end of the arm was the hare. Such apparatus required special motors,

for it is necessary to convey the mechanical hare at a speed of about forty-five miles per hour. Field exciting batteries were required.

Special and involved apparatus was neces-' sary for braking the car when a race was completed, it being the proper and customary practice to carry the mechanical hare through an opening in the housing and out of sight of the pursuing hounds.

In addition to the great weight and considerable bulk which a hare-propelling car of this character possessed, the installation of a track using such apparatus was a relatively slow and tedious proposition. It was an eX- pensive installation also in that it was necessary to excavate the entire circumference of the track, and it was also necessary to pro vide a housing of a most expensive construction, for all of the support therefor had to be adjacent the outer periphery of'the track. When the bulk of the housing was considered, this made a difficult task. 7

In the present advanced types of track, the entire mechanism is greatly improved in that a much lighter hare propelling car is provided, a lesser current than is ordinarily required is used, the housing about the propelling car is simplified and its bulk reduced,

and its installation on a track has become a relatively simple matter of very low cost.

Further than that, the height of the enclosing housing is much reduced so that V greater visibility of the-track may be had while the hare is running the course and the hounds are following the here. The 9bjections to a high housing which sometimes obscured the vision is fully met by a new housing which in no way interferences with visibility of the hounds at any point on the track.

Having thus briefly outlined the present state of the art, and the improvements which are effected by the present invention, it is properto recite, at least in part, the objects of the present invention, among which are the following A new arrangement of rails in relation to a car operating on a dog track and producing a marked improveinent in the behavior of a mechanical rabbit;

A simplified housing construction for a car conveying a mechanical rabbit, including unique and novel means for supplying to the motor driving the car electrical current;

Improving the housing of a dog trackso that its construction is made relatively cheap, the structure being such that the track may be rapidly installed; and

Simplifying the car and track construction of a dog track so that the may be effectively stopped in a relatively short dis tance. 7

These, and such other objects'as may hereinafter appear, are obtained by the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of the several elements which constitute the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying several sheets of drawing, and in which Figure 1 is a transverse section through one form of housing, a car and mechanical lure being shown in elevation;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a different type of housing; and

Figure 3 is an elevation and sectional view of the braking section of the housing.

Throughout the specification and description of the invention which follows, and in the drawing, like reference characters are used to indicate similar parts.

In Figure 1 which shows a section of one form of housing and an end view of a lure propelling car in elevation, there is an upright post 20, generally an eight lnch by eight inch member which is suitably sunk into the ground a d whi h be secured in the ground by cement, or otherwise, as desired.

As the housing is relatively low, the eight inch by eight inch uprights may extend well above the housing proper to provide posts between which is strung board fencing 21 so that there will be no opportunity for the dogs to jump outside the track into the grand stand or away from the track.

At the bu se of said uprights 20 and disposed upon the ground is a similar heavy beam, eight inches by twelve inches, and designated 22, upon which a rail 23 is disposed. The uprights 20 are spaced about the track at regulated spaced distances, and itisusual and customary in the construction of the track housing to dispose two or more planks 24 longitudinelly between the posts 20. A relatively light piece of material as a board one inch by twelve inches may be employed for this purpose, This shields the back of the house mg and prevents contact with the electrical conduits forming a part thereof.

DiSpOsed above the rail supporting member 22 is a second rail supporting member 25 which may be an eightinch by eight inch beam. Upon said beam 25 is disposed a second rail 26 which is like rail 23 but may be 1i hter. Rails 23 and 26 form the conduits o? the electrical system used to operate the lure conveying car.

Projecting outwardly from said rail carryiug member 25 is a shelf or apron 27 which may be of any desirable form, it being the object of such device 27 to project out sufiiciently far that rains which may fall during the course of a race or at other times will be prevented from dropping upon the upper rail which is connected to the positive side of storage batteries or another source of electromotive force.

A second form of track housing is shown in Figure 2. In this figure, the housing is shown as an obliquely disposed one inch by twelve inch top 27', and the member 25 supporting the upper rail 26 and the uprights 20' are sawed or cut obliquely so that they have a slightly sloping top section upon which said top 27' may rest. The inwardly projecting plank 27 takes the place of the apron 27 described in FljflliG 1.

In the construction shown in Figure 2 the upright 20 is provided at its base with a spacer block 28 which rests upon the ground. Adjacent to said spacer block 28, generally an eight inch by eight inch piece, and suitably secured thereto, is a second block 22, which is called the rail block, and upon this the lower rail 23 is disposed. Of course, the spacer block 28 and rail block 22 are both firmly secured to the upright 20.

As can readily be seen from an examina tion of Figure 1, a car 31 of relatively simple structure is operated in the housing. This car comprises primarily two side plates or 3 frame members 32 which are held together in aligned parallelism. At the end of said side frames 32 are axles 33 which are suitably secured to the frame members 32 and upon which the main or driving wheels 34 of the apparatus are disposed.

At their tops the side plates 32 are formed to provide sleeves 35 supporting a projecting arm 36 which is adapted to carry a mechanical lure 37. such projecting: arm 36 being of the usual type employed in the succcssful mechanical lures of the present time.

Such attachment of the arm 36 is obtained by machine screws 38 or otherwise, and at the free end of the arm 36 the rabbit 37 is fastened in any desirable way. The other end of the rabbit supporting arm 36 projects inwardly to provide an axle 39 for the revolution of an upper wheel 40 of the car carriage.

Upon said projecting shaft or axle 39 is a bushing or sleeve 41 of insulatory material which provides a bearing for the revolution of said upper wheel 40. Any suitable fastening for such insulatory sleeve 41 whereby it may be secured to said lure arm is contem plated.

A compact car of the character disclosed may be readily operated on a single ground rail, the horizontal position of the arm supporting the lure being easily maintained by the use of the upper or trolley rail. The positioning of the upper rail 26 further away from the lure 37 than the lower rail 23 permits of balancing the carriage in a vertical position without undue torsional strain upon the upper rail or upon the carriage. The position of the rails illustrated is such that the weight of the carriage is well distributed and better than if the upper wheel thereof were directly above the lower wheels. Altogether the device is highly effective and exceedingly simple to build and to install.

In the present instance, the hare-carrying car is relatively light, and a simple and efiicient braking means may be employed therewith in close association with a device or gate adapted to be drawn across the racecourse to impede the progress of the dogs, and to obscure their vision of the hare, it being necessary to provide in such a device a mechanism allowing the lu to pa ss thereby or therethrough, but thereafter completely obscuring the rabbit from the view of the pursuing dogs.

In order to quickly stop a car in a section of the housing in proximity to such a gate, a section 90 of the upper rail 26 may be pivoted. (See Figure 3.) Said section 90 may comprise a rail material substantially identical with that employed for the conduit rail 26, or it may be especially formed and constructed for this particular application.

From its pivot 91, which pivot is adjacent to the immovable track section 26 and in the direction from which a car normally approaches, the track section 90, held in a verbrought about by said springs 98 impressing their force upon said rail section 90.

Successful stopping of a car may be had in a relatively short distance by this arrangement and without a great jar upon the car.

, The braking effect may be said to be accelerated. Such acceleration is the result of the decreasing space between rails 23 and as the end of the pivoted section 90 is approached.

The arrangement herein illustrated and described causes a car to remain locked in the position attained by it when the brake becomes efiective for the force of the car is sufiicient to spread the rails 23 and 90 to a degree that the upper rail section 90 will be substantially parallel with the lower rail 23, thus doing away with any tendency of the car to rebound under the urging influence of the springs 93.

When it is desired to release the car for further propulsion under its own power, a judge or other operative who may be disposed at the center of the track or in any other convenient place, may pull upon a cable 94 which is adapted to pass around a pulley 95 disposed upon a post 96 adjacent to an outer rail 53 of the track, such pulling force being adapted to elevate the upper rail section 90 until it becomes parallel to the lower rail 23 and ceases thereafter to provide a narrow and impeding section of track.

Reference should be had to my co-pending application serially numbered 305,956, filed Sept. 14, 1928 entitled Car and housing.

I claim:

1. In a dog racing track employing a mechanical lure disposed upon a car having a horizontal arm, a housing comprising spaced uprights, a main rail supporting member adapted to rest upon the ground and away from said uprights, a second rail supporting member disposed upon said uprights and in close proximity thereto, and a covering member extending inwardly of said track.

2. In a race track for dogs and in which mechanical lure upon a horizontal arm is propelled thereabout by a car, a housing for said car comprising an upright, a rail supporting member disposed upon the ground, a rail on said member removed from said upright, a second rail supporting member disposed upon said upright, a rail on said member adjacent said upright and intermediate its length, and an apron secured to said sec- 0nd rail supporting member, the section of said upright projecting above said apron providing a railing or fence.

3. In a track for coursing dogs, a mechanical carriage for an artificial lure, and a supporting housing therefor having rails at the top and bottom thereof with opposed traction surfaces and not in vertical alignment for supporting said carriage and lure.

l In a track for coursing dogs, a mechanical carriage for an artificial lure, and a supporting housing therefor comprising uprights supporting vertically spaced apart horizontal members having rails with opposed traction faces for said carriage and lure, one of said rails being oif-set from the other.

THOMAS A. KEEN. 

